This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
This invention relates to headphones and in particular to variable occlusion headphones.
Headphones typically comprises left and right ear elements connected by a head band. Each of the ear elements comprising a housing having a face adapted to face the wearer's ear. A resilient seal member disposed on the housing is adapted to surround the user's ear, and with the face of the housing form a chamber enclosing the user's ear. A speaker is provided in the housing, communicating through the face of the housing to provide sound to the user's ear. This type of headphone, while comfortable and providing excellent sound to the wearer, acoustically isolates the wearer from the surrounding environment. While this is conducive to providing a high quality uninterrupted listening experience, there can be some undesirable consequences to not being aware of important communications and warnings.